Mother by Protest
by Juno Thursday
Summary: Maureen goes out to find Penny and Will during a cosmic storm. Upon returning Maureen can't exactly explain what happened when a flash of light strikes her. John notices his wife has changed.
1. Chapter 1

_-This Lost in Space fanfiction is a reworking of Richard Matheson's "Mother by Protest" short story. I took a good deal of material from it and worked in the LIS characters. I also included dialog from the LIS episode "Follow the Leader". I just thought it would make an interesting story to mash up with the Robinsons. This story takes place in the first season of LIS, in the first few episodes since the show was more serious at that point. Also, I like the idea of a more serious Dr. Smith.-_

Chapter 1: The Light.

For the last couple of weeks the Robinsons noticed the odd night showers of light and meteors—cosmic storms. They had yet to find a reason for the showers. And since no answer had been found, all seven passengers of the Jupiter II were on a strict schedule of being inside the ship by nightfall. Of course the ship's force field aided in further damage to the vessel, but once outside the force's radius they could not be protected from the meteors hurling towards the planet or the unusual flashes of light.

Maureen and Judy finished setting the table for dinner, when Maureen called the family in. Dr. Smith was first one in, followed by Don, and John who kissed Maureen on the forehead.

"Well, where's Will and Penny?" Maureen asked. Usually they came running for dinner.

John looked around and back to Maureen, "I thought they were helping you."

Maureen shook her head, "I thought they were with you." She turned to Judy, "Judy, have you seen your brother and sister?"

Judy, who was pulling her chair up to the table next to Don, answered, "No, I haven't seen either one since about lunch time."

"Mr. Smith, have you seen them?" Maureen asked Dr. Smith, really concerned this time.

Smith, was tucking his napkin into his collar, annoyed at Mrs. Robinson and the thought of those little brats holding up dinner. "No, my dear," he answered with an air of snobbery.

John rubbed his wife's shoulder, "Maybe they're in their rooms. You check there and I'll check outside the ship."

Maureen and John departed hastily, only to return a couple of minutes later. Judy watched from the table at her panicked parents. It was not unusual for Penny and Will to disappear, in fact it happened fairly often. But this time was different—with the strange showers at night and the way Mother and Father looked.

Maureen's distress turned into quick anger, "I told those two deliberately that they had to be back here before dark!"

John only shook his head, thinking about his next course of action, Maureen was on the verge of tears. Judy left the table to comfort her mother. She placed an arm around Maureen's waist.

"Mother, they'll be back. They always come back."

"Yeah, Maureen," Don approved, now standing between John and Judy.

"It's just been so dangerous out there at night lately," Maureen stated softly.

"We'll have to go search for them," John said to Don.

"Right," Don agreed. "We still have a few minutes before night. I'll get the chariot. It should hold up against the showers for long enough."

John nodded in agreement and Don rushed off. John held his wife by the shoulders and looked into her eyes, "Stay here. We'll go look for them. They can't be far."

"Alright, dear," Maureen said, wiping tears from her eyes.

John kissed her and headed to the ship's door. Before he whisked out into the dusk of their new planet, he turned to Maureen, "Now, stay put. We'll find them. And Judy stay with your mother."

Maureen and Judy no longer felt like eating, so they waited in the cabin while Dr. Smith gorged himself on the family's dinner. Judy tried to occupy her mother by playing cards, but Maureen's mind was elsewhere. "Don't worry, Mother. Dad will bring them back."

Maureen threw her cards onto the table. "Oh, I know. But a mother can't help worrying about her children." She looked at her watch, "Maybe you should go to bed, I'll wait up for them."

"Mother, I can't leave you by yourself."

Maureen gave her daughter a weak smile.

The minutes soon turned into hours. Dr. Smith, unworried about the children, went to bed, while Judy accidently fell asleep in a chair. Maureen was up, pacing the room. She could take it no longer. Her mother's intuition told her she could find her children. She grabbed her laser gun and holster, and left the ship, being sure to not wake Judy—Judy would try to stop her. Maureen, while pacing the room, had calculated the rhythm at which the meteors fell. If she ran at certain times, between the pauses in showers, she could seek refuge when the meteors fell and search for her children when they let up.

xx

Judy was rudely awakened by her father shaking her.

"Judy! Judy!"

Through a yawn she responded, "I'm awake."

Her hazy eyes spotted her father standing there with Don, Penny and Will—all unharmed.

"Judy, where's your mother?" John boomed.

"She must have went to bed," Judy answered, unsure.

"I've checked our quarters, she's not there. She isn't anywhere on the ship," John shouted, feeling himself getting angry at Judy when it wasn't her fault. "Oh, I'm sorry Judy. I don't mean to take it out on you."

"John," Don said. John let go of Judy and turned to look at Don. "Maureen's gun's gone from the rack."

John looked around the ship, "So is her space suit. She must have went out to search for Will and Penny." He clenched his fists. "After I told her not to leave!" Feeling softer he turned to the children, "You should go to bed." And then to himself, "And she wonders where they get their adventurous nature."

Judy looking at her father, shuffled Penny and Will to their chambers. Don reassured John, "Maureen's a smart woman. She knows what she's doing."

"Yes, but it's a strange planet."

"Let's go after her," Don began.

"No. Not yet. It's almost dawn," John said, calmly, looking out of the ship's viewport. "It'll be easier."

Daylight began to peek and John had almost went to sleep sitting in his captain's chair. He looked over at Major West who was sleeping with his legs propped on the ship's controls. John let the Major sleep and headed out into the early light to look for his wife.

Judy didn't get much sleep if any at all—worrying about her mother. She decided to get up anyway and start breakfast, even if no one would be awake yet. However, Dr. Smith would definitely be ready for breakfast at the usual time, to which Judy rolled her eyes.

As Judy sat the coffee pot on the table, John barreled through the ship's entrance, carrying an unconscious Maureen. "Mother!" Judy shouted, running toward them and waking Don. "Is she alright?"

John kneeled to lay Maureen on the ship's floor. "I think she'll be okay. She's unconscious. Something must have knocked her out. Where's Dr. Smith?" John demanded, rushing to find him.

Judy took her Mother's head to give her still body cushion against the cold floor. Don helped her—taking Maureen's boots and dusty coat off.

By the time Will and Penny woke, Dr. Smith had complied with John's plead to help Maureen. Dr. Smith had stabilized Maureen, hooking her to an oxygen tank. She was awake now, though weak and tired. And as far as Dr. Smith—with the help of the robot—could tell there were no signs of damage or anything at all wrong with Maureen except dehydration. John impatiently waited outside their compartment. Dr. Smith came out. "Well, Doctor, is she alright?"

"Yes, but she needs her rest. And you _owe_ for this one. Be grateful that Mrs. Robinson is the only one aboard I can tolerate," he snapped.

John ignored Dr. Smith and went in to see his wife. She lay on the bed, looking fragile and pale. She removed the oxygen mask. John sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand.

"I'm sorry, John. But I had to look for them. They're—"

He kissed her hand. "It's alright, Maureen. As long as you're safe now. I wouldn't trade your stubbornness for anything—even if it means our children are like you," he joked.

Maureen gave a frail laugh.

"Maureen, what happened out there, I mean to you? It doesn't look like a meteor struck you," John asked, examining her body.

"I'm not sure really. There was a sudden flash of white light. It came over all of a sudden. I tried to run from it. And, then, something hit me. John, it felt like a needle going through by body. That's all I can remember. But I don't feel anything now. And I'm sure if I get a good sleep I'll be good as new," she assured her husband.

He was quizzical, "Are you sure you feel fine Maureen?"

"I'm sure," she answered, rubbing his arm.

"Perhaps, it was some kind of electrical energy that went through you. And maybe your gun refracted it—from killing you." There was a long pause as John was thinking again. "I'll let you rest now. I'll tell the children you're fine."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Maureen's Condition and John's Dilemma.

The cosmic storms ceased.

A weak Maureen tried to get out of bed, when Will and Penny paraded in. They couldn't wait any longer to see their mother. Both children nearly knocked Maureen over trying to hug her. Judy rushed in to pull them back as she had been acting as temporary mother to them for a couple of days.

"It's alright, Judy. Company might do me some good," she said, latching onto Penny and Will, while motioning Judy to come sit with them.

"Mother?" Penny started, sweetly.

"Yes, dear," Maureen answered brushing Penny's hair with her hand.

"Will and I are sorry we didn't come back on time the other night—"

Will cut her off, "Yeah, Mom, me and Penny—"

"Penny and I," Maureen corrected.

"Gee whiz, Mom," Will protested. "Anyway, we'll never do it again."

"Well, if you promise," Maureen laughed. Then turned to Judy, "Thanks for taking over my duties."

"It was nothing Mother," Judy lied, as Penny and Will had started arguing over something immaterial.

John came in to break it up, "Will. Penny. Go help Don and let your mother alone."

Penny and Will hugged their mother one last time and sheepishly left. Judy could tell her father wanted to speak to Maureen, so she followed the children out.

"Oh, John, they weren't doing anything," Maureen said playfully.

"Maureen, that's the same attitude that got you into this situation."

"They're only children."

xx

In a couple of weeks' time, Maureen was back to her regular chores and motherly post.

"Really, I'm fine," she reassured them all.

They all believed her except John—he was suspicious. Maureen seemed, to him anyway, distant. She was more wordless and somewhat cold towards him. The last couple of nights they hardly spoke after retiring to their compartment. She looked feeble.

One afternoon, Maureen was helping Penny to set the table, when she felt tired. She held herself against the table, Penny hardly noticed. Maureen, not wanting to upset Penny bit her lip and started setting the table again. She couldn't go on, she drooped into a chair at the table.

"Are you alright, Mother?" Penny said, grabbing her mother.

Maureen smiled at Penny, "Yes, dear. I just needed to sit down for a minute."

"I'll finish the table," Penny said and walked to the other side.

"I'm just so tired, so suddenly," Maureen faintly declared, resting her head on her arms on the table.

Penny looked at her, "Mom, are you sure you're okay? Want me to call dad?"

"No, really—"

Maureen fell from her chair to the floor. Penny rushed to her side, "Dad! Dad! Judy!"

John carried a limp Maureen to her bunk in their compartment and demanded Dr. Smith run another series of tests.

"Alright, alright," Dr. Smith said with a brush of his hand and shooed everyone from the room.

Several minutes later Maureen woke, looking up to Dr. Smith reading a data report from the robot. Maureen looked startled. The anxiety that filled Maureen was confirmed by the expression on Dr. Smith's face.

"Interesting," he murmured, looking at the strip of paper.

"Doctor," Maureen said, he looked over. "There's no need to tell me the report. I know what it is—I've known for a while." She looked away from him about to cry. Then she sat up, grabbed Smith's arm, "Please, don't tell John or the others. I need to tell him."

"My dear lady, are you asking me to lie?"

"Doctor, please. I'm begging you. Now, I'm your friend and I've been your ally. I'm just asking for you to let me tell John."

"If that is what you wish, I guess I'll grant it, but only because it's for you, my dear lady."

Dr. Smith stood up, cleared his throat and quickly left before John could question him. John hurried in, it was becoming routine. He embraced his wife, "Maureen, what is it? Are you okay?"

"Yes, John. It's nothing serious."

"Well, what is it?" he asked, holding her face, but she did not look happy, there were tears. "Maureen, what is it!"

"John," she paused. "I'm going to have a baby." She looked away from him.

John laughed with delight and squeezed her tight. The thought of having a child born and raised in space. But then again anything could go wrong. Was this planet safe to give life to an infant? He kissed her all over. "Maureen, how long have you known?"

She was less upset now, "A couple of weeks now."

"A couple of weeks? Why did you wait to tell me? I thought you were keeping something from me. I'm delighted, darling. Are you? I'm sure we can manage."

His thoughts were everywhere. Maureen was very silent. Between all the joyous thoughts that screamed out in John's head were the words _couple of weeks_. John stopped and just thought about Maureen and himself—their relationship. The romance. Really, they had been busy and neglected each other. Really they had neglected each other physically, besides the everyday embraces and kisses, since before they left Earth. "A couple of weeks?" he pondered aloud. "It can't be. Maureen, it doesn't add up. It just doesn't add up."

"I know, John. I've looked at it myself."

"Maureen, is there something you're not telling me?"

"No, John."

John moved away from Maureen. He walked to the other side of the small room. Then he just gazed intensely out of the porthole.

"Oh, John," Maureen cried. She walked up behind him. "John, I know what you're thinking, please don't. There is no question."

John couldn't help but think about it. Though who? There were a couple on board with them who were capable of it. There could be others on the planet that he did not know about. But he didn't want to think that Maureen was capable of something like that—they had a perfectly healthy relationship. Maybe he had concentrated too much on his work and neglected her. He didn't want to think anymore.

He turned hopelessly to Maureen and asked, "Dr. Smith has confirmed this?" She nodded. "Perhaps, there was some delay due to the freezing tube? Let's consult Dr. Smith."

Maureen didn't want to consult Dr. Smith about this very private predicament and she feared even more what the children would think.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Cold Night and Coffee.

After consulting Dr. Smith the only hope John was holding onto suddenly vanished. It was highly unlikely that the process had been suspended with Maureen on their journey from Earth. Maureen tried not to think about it, more, thought of how they were going to explain this to the rest of them.

"What are we going to tell the children?" she asked John, when they were alone.

Without looking at her, he said, "We'll tell them you're having a baby. I'll pretend for them, but that's all."

Later that day, during dinner, John revealed the news to the children as well as Don, Dr. Smith was being bribed to not say anything on the matter. Everyone had a grand time celebrating, but underneath it was quite different. Maureen really wanted to go weep in her room. John wanted to take a walk and just think about things. Judy thought of the idea of having yet another sibling to look after and being so much older than. Will felt jealous as he was used to being the baby of the family and a new baby would disrupt that. Penny was the only one with genuine joy as she thought of a new baby as someone she could dress up.

They all retired to bed, except John, who waited up to be alone with his thoughts. He sat there so long he fell asleep though not for long. Turning out the lights, we slid open the door to Maureen's and his compartment. A chilly wind blew past him. The porthole was wide open, letting in the cold night air and the cooling unit was adding a crispiness to the small room. John saw Maureen asleep with the blankets pushed to the bottom of her bed. He went over and pulled the bedclothes back over her body, shivering under his own clothes. Then he noticed a book Maureen had been reading—physics. Her interest was biochemistry, he thought puzzled.

Changing into his night clothes, John watched as Maureen tossed uncomfortably in her sleep. He was about to climb into his bed when Maureen heaved the blankets off her and completely off the bed. John went over to cover her back up, her body trembled. As he pulled her bedding from the floor, she woke with her eyes on him.

"You're going to catch cosmic fever," he said to her. "You're kicking the blankets off."

"Oh," she said, sitting up in bed. Feeling a little out of sorts, she asked him, "Would you mind getting me a glass of water?"

From the shelve John grabbed a glass and the pitcher, filling a glass full for Maureen. He handed it to her and in one gulp it was gone. She handed the glass back, "Do you mind?"

Again he filled her glass and again she drank the entire thing.

"What have you been eating?" he asked worried.

"Salt, I guess," she answered sleepily.

By the time John sat the glass back on the shelf, Maureen was back to sleep and he climbed into bed, trying to stay warm. John only slept for an hour because Maureen woke him, having a coughing attack. He noticed that she was sick and the bedclothes were again on the floor. He got out of bed as Maureen had painful seizures of coughing. He felt her—she had a raging fever.

"Maureen, something isn't right. I'm going to get Dr. Smith," John told her out of real concern.

After a short coughing spell, Maureen grabbed John's arm, "No, John, don't call the doctor."

"But Maureen, you're burning up."

John shook her hand away and turned to leave. Maureen's body trembled for a second. "John," Maureen called out.

He stopped and looked at her. Her coughing had stopped and the color had come back to her face. John walked over to her and felt her face again. "Your fever . . . it's gone." He grabbed her wrist and checked her pulse—it was normal. "Maureen, you're cured."

"How?" she asked.

"It's very queer indeed."

John seeing that Maureen was fine again decided that it would be best to get some sleep. Tomorrow they would see Dr. Smith.

Maureen woke before John, but sat in bed gorging herself on books—engineering, geography, everything she could get her hands on. And there was a definite change in Maureen's physical appearance. She was afraid to address the issue.

John turned over in bed and watched Maureen across the room, she hadn't noticed that he was now awake. She was so busy reading her books. John thought it was strange that Maureen was reading three times the speed she normally did. And stranger than that was her appearance. Maybe it was all the blankets she had on. John was worried. He couldn't deny it now—Maureen was pregnant and it was showing. Overnight her shape had gone from its delicate thinness to having a protruding abdomen of a far along pregnancy. John was really worried now.

He got dressed and informed Maureen that he was getting Dr. Smith. They avoided talking about the change in her appearance as he feared it would upset her.

"John, I don't think we should call Dr. Smith," she pleaded with him.

"Why? Clearly, something unusual is happening. You could be in danger. I'm going down to get Dr. Smith."

As John reached to open the door, Maureen gave out a cry of pain. Her body trembled. He turned to help her.

"What's the matter?"

"John, every time you mention the doctor there's a horrible pain inside me."

He just looked at her. He knew she was telling the truth. Scratching his chin, "Maureen, last night, when I was going to get the doctor and suddenly you were cured. Your body must know something . . . I'll hold off on calling Smith for your sake. I'll get you some breakfast. I don't know how we are going to explain this to the others."

John returned with breakfast for Maureen and coffee for himself. After serving Maureen—he pretended not to notice the amount of salt she was having and the dangerous amount of water too. He didn't know what to say to her, she would become upset. She was fragile.

"John, can I have some coffee," Maureen asked.

"Are you sure you can have coffee?"

"A little won't hurt."

He then watched Maureen shamelessly drink an entire pot of coffee.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: It doesn't like the Music.

John explained Maureen's strange condition to the others—lying that her pregnancy had been delayed by the suspended animation during lift off. Now, her body was working three times as quickly to catch up. The family after a couple of days took it for true and resumed their daily routines. Maureen did act peculiar on occasion, but no one paid attention, blaming hormonal changes.

But opinions quickly changed one night. Maureen had dismissed the children, while she tidied up after dinner. John went back to their compartment to have a rest, but noticed a pile of books next to Maureen's bunk. Rousseau, Locke, Hegel, Marx, Descartes, Darwin, Bergson, Freud, Whitehead, Jeans, Eddington, Einstein, Emerson, Dewey, Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, Kant, Schopenhauer, James. While examining the books a few pieces of paper fell from the stack to the floor. John bent over to look at them. It was Maureen's handwriting— _Dream of goodbyes, forsaken, plunged in swelling liquors, cry I for light, release me from torment and trial. Now am I alien and forgotten, O lost of traveled night._

It was a message.

John, putting the papers back, decided to confront Maureen. From behind, John watched his wife lift the hot coffee pot from the burner with her bare hands. He almost called out to her, but when she didn't feel any pain, he simply watched. From the steaming pot Maureen drank its entire contents within minutes.

From the entry way John startled Maureen, "You're not supposed to drink coffee." He was by her side now, saying through gritted teeth, "Why did you drink the coffee when you're supposed to?"

"I just couldn't stand it any longer!" She snapped back. "John, I can't help it. I'm not allowed to have water. And the doctor's reduced my salt intake. I have to have something. I _have_ to drink _something_."

It was eerie. The word brought John up short. The cosmic fever, the reading, Maureen adapting to extreme temperatures, the trembling at the thought of the doctor, the desire for salt, water and coffee. And this thought ran through John's mind as he stared as his wife, _what if the father wasn't another man_.

Maureen lost her footing and started to stumble. John caught her by the elbow. She gave a slight laugh and then another.

"My god, Maureen, you're drunk," John said, holding her up. Having trouble holding her head up, John asked her, "How do you feel?"

Trying to concentrate on John's face, Maureen answered in a stupor, "Heavy. I feel heavy. The baby is so heavy."

She pushed away from John and reached for a glass of water on the table. John slapped her hand away. "No more water, Maureen!"

"But John, I have to! I feel such a need for salt and it makes me thirsty."

John angrily poured the water into the waste bin, "You'll endanger the child."

Maureen gave a groan and stumbled away from John, trying to escape still drunk from the coffee. She headed to the elevator. John rushed after her, taking the ladder.

The children along with Don were sitting in the main room of the ship, when Maureen came from the elevator. Don was watching Judy and Will play chess. Penny had put on one of her tapes—Brahms—when Maureen stumbled over. She stopped and tried to steady her head. Then she stamped over to Penny's machine and aggressively pulled out the tapes.

"Mother, what are you doing?" Penny screeched, as everyone noticed that the music had stopped and were now looking at their mother.

John tugged Maureen back, "Maureen, what are you doing? They're listening to that."

She gave John an irritated grimace, "That's too bad. I don't like it."

"Since when?" he asked.

"Oh, leave me alone," she huffed.

He caught her by the wrist as she turned away. "Listen, do you think this whole thing has been easy for me, Maureen? I've watched you turn into a reading machine. I've had to look over you as I would one of the children—kicking off the blankets, keeping you from eating too much salt, too much water, and too much coffee. And now you don't like the music."

Maureen clenched her teeth and stared at John, "It hurts . . . the music hurts me, John."

She felt dizzy from the coffee again and fell against the chair Don was sitting in. Maureen gave a little laugh and slumped over. Don caught her and steadied her heavy body until John grabbed her from behind. They carried Maureen back to her bed, where she sat confused.

Don left John to be alone with Mrs. Robinson.

"Is she alright," Judy asked Don. He didn't have an answer, he just slumped into the nearest chair.

Will approached him worried, "I sure wish there was something we could do."

Judy went to ease her brother and Penny joined them. Then Judy asked, "Have any of you noticed Mother's eyes, they seem to look right through you."

Don, rubbing his forehead, "The one thing that bothers me is that you never know what to expect. One moment she seems perfectly alright and the next she's someone you've never met before."

Penny added, "Even I can't talk to her, she just walks away."

xx

John shook Maureen by the arms, "Maureen, you have to tell me what's going on? What's happening to you?" There was a strained sadness in his voice. Her hands pressed against her face and she started crying. John took Maureen in his arms and had her rest her face into his chest. She looked at him as if in pain. John could tell she was in pain, but through her eyes, underneath this foreign pregnancy, John could see the old Maureen trapped in there.

Soon Maureen fell into a deep sleep and John covered her with a blanket.

John tried to get some sleep. But terrible thoughts flooded his mind. Thoughts of what was happening to Maureen. What possessed her body—it was controlling her. It was causing her to lash out, consume salt and get drunk off coffee. A light slumber finally ended his thoughts. It did not last long as he was disturbed by noise coming from Maureen's bunk. He looked over, where she had again knocked off her bedclothes. She made tiny murmurings and her breaths were labored and uneven as her hands clutched the sheet under her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: In Our Favor.

The Professor and Don helped a drowsy Mrs. Robinson to bed, the sedation was beginning to wear off. There had been a fight to get her in that state and at a great pain to Maureen from within. But it was all over now—the examination part anyway. John left his wife to sleep off the medicine while he had a private chat with Dr. Smith.

In all seriousness Dr. Smith agreed to look closer, fearing that something was truly amiss and could put everyone in danger—most of all Maureen's life was at stake.

"What you say is not that fantastic," the doctor admitted to John as they stood below the main deck, in the lab. "Considering the unfamiliarity of this planet, or anything for that matter in the interstellar."

Pacing with his hands stiffly behind his back, John began, "Let's run it down. One—the excess saline requirements, not the requirements of a normal pregnancy. Two—the cold temperatures, the way Maureen's body adjusted to it, the way she was cured of cosmic fever in minutes. It was as if the child needed cold and forced Maureen to stay cold—until it realized that by acquiring itself some comfort it was endangering the very vessel it lived it. So it cured her and adjusted her body. And the way it reacted violently to the mention of a doctor."

Dr. Smith chimed in, looking down as if afraid of the point they were driving at, "You talk as if the child were directing its mother rather than being helpless, subject to its mother's actions."

John continued ignoring Dr. Smith's comment, "Three—the way she lashed out at the children for listening to music, which she used to enjoy. Why? Because it was music? I don't think so. _Because of the vibrations_. Vibrations a normal child wouldn't even notice, being so insulated from sound not only by the layers of its mother's epidermis but by the very structure of its own hearing apparatus. This . . . child . . . has much keener hearing."

"It's like it's observing through Maureen," Dr. Smith said.

"It fits. Her reading—all those books—more or less the basic works in every field of knowledge, a seemingly calculated study of mankind and his every thought."

Dr. Smith continued on Mr. Robinson's idea, "It's as if Maureen is trying to get as much information as she can about our civilization. As if the child were . . ."

"I think we should stop referring to it as a child. Perhaps the body is childlike. But the mind— _never_."

John became very silent. Dr. Smith himself appeared more worried than before, "Perhaps this is an invasion tryout. This is their experiment. They are using Maureen's body as a vessel to learn about us and plan some kind of attack back on Earth."

Shaking his head, John began, "I know we were signing up for an adventure in space, to colonize—but this, no. A possible invasion back on Earth by using us."

Dr. Smith took the x-rays that he managed to get while Maureen was under sedation. "You should have a look at these."

Hesitantly, John approached the table. What he saw was absolute proof of what he feared. " _A double heart_ ," he barely managed to get out. "Maureen has an alien in her womb," he hated to admit it.

Then his left hand bunched into a fist. "That clinches it! Mars has two-fifths the gravity of Earth. They'd need a double heart to drive their blood in their veins. But it doesn't need it here or on Earth."

"Surely there must be something we can do," Dr. Smith said.

John leaned against the table, with his arms supporting his weight as they spread across its surface, bushing away the x-rays. "There are rough spots in this invasion, if that's what it is," he started, concentrating. "The alien cell would, of genetic necessity, cause certain alien characteristics in the child—the double heart, the acute hearing, the need for salt, I don't know why, the need for cold. In time, however, they may iron out these difficulties and be able to create a child with the alien mind and every physical characteristics like that of Penny or Will. I don't know but I suspect the alien is also telepathic. Otherwise why would it make Maureen's body protest at the mention of a doctor, or the uneasy vibration or even when I tell Maureen to stop eating salt."

"Well, what will we do about the alien child? Kill . . ."

"I don't want to harm Maureen," John said miserably. "I'm not even sure we could do anything as of yet. If it knows what we are doing, it might harm Maureen and even all of us. Either way, if the alien has adapted already, they might see their experiment as a success, whether we try to harm it or not."

"Perhaps, we should perform a caesarian?" Dr. Smith suggested. "We surely can't leave that thing in her."

"How do we know we can remove it," John said grimly, "and not kill Maureen?"

"I guess the only thing we can do is wait."

John continued, trying to find some hope in the situation, "There are a few things in our favor—the double heart might drive the blood too fast. The difficulties in combining Maureen's cells with alien cells—"

"We could cut off its salt supply and hope it dies of despair."

"No, that puts Maureen at a high risk."

xx

The pounding of a strange ambivalent heartbeat nearly drove John's ears into a frenzy as he opened the door to their compartment—there lay his innocent wife who was unknowingly in grave danger.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Double Heart.

She lay on her back, her hands resting limply on her swollen stomach, her lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling. John sat down on the edge of her bed. She didn't look at him.

"Maureen."

No answer.

"Sweetheart," he said.

Her eyes moved slowly over and their gaze on him was cold and unknown. It was the creature in her, he thought, she didn't realize how it controlled her.

He leaned over and pressed his cheek against hers. "Maureen?"

A dull, tired voice, hardly audible. "What?"

"Can you hear me?" he said.

She didn't reply.

"Maureen, about the baby."

There was a slight sign of life in her eyes.

"What about the baby?"

He swallowed.

"I . . . I know that . . . that it isn't—"

For a moment she stared at him and turned away. He sat there, hand gripped into tight fists, thinking. But then her head turned back. There was something in her eyes, a tremulous questioning.

"What?" she said, taking her hands from her stomach and pressing them against her cheeks. Her wide blue eyes began to glisten as they looked at him.

For a moment he hung suspended, then threw himself against her, "I'm sorry, Maureen." Her arms slid around his neck and held him. He felt her chest shake with inner sobs. Her right hand caressed his hair.

For a long time they remained there, silent and at peace. Then she asked, "John, what do you know about the baby?"

His throat moved. He didn't know how to tell her or if he should tell her. He looked at her without the answer.

Maureen became alarmed, pulling away from him, "John, you have to tell me. There's something wrong! John, answer me!"

"Well . . .I . . ." he couldn't form enough words to express anything to her.

She was becoming upset and angry, "John, you haven't told me anything!"

"Now, Maureen don't get upset."

She was almost yelling now, and her face flushed, "You've been talking with Dr. Smith. What have you two discussed! What have you discovered that I can't know about! Something about your biological assurances?"

Remaining calm for Maureen's sake, John answered, "I simply know things I didn't know before."

"What things? I know you're keeping something from me."

"Maureen, don't get so excited."

"I'm not excited!"

"You're shouting. Now stop it," he shouted back, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"I will not stop it! You want me to be calmly rational! Well, I won't be! I'm sick of it. You're afraid that can't handle what is really happening to me. The truth is I have a suspicion about this whole baby . . ."

She lurched on the bed, the color drained from her face in an instant. Her eyes were dazed and shocked.

"Maureen!" John yelled, gripping her tighter.

"My insides," she gasped. "It doesn't like when I'm angry," she informed John. He tried to steady her on the bed.

"It must be on to us," John said aloud, but Maureen didn't hear.

"I can't stand it," she said through clenched teeth. "I can't stand it."

Then, as abruptly as the attack had come, her face relaxed utterly. Not so much with actual relaxation as with a complete absence of all feeling. She looked dizzily at John. "I can't . . . feel . . . a . . ."

Slowly she sank back on the pillow and lay there a second with her eyes open. Then she smiled drowsily at her husband.

"Good night, John," she said. And closed her eyes.

Dr. Smith stood beside Maureen's bed. "She is in perfect coma," he said quietly. "More accurately I should say under hypnotic trance. Her body functions normally but her brain has been . . . frozen."

"And we can't wake her," John said.

Dr. Smith shook his head and went on, "She might be better off this way. Her body will function painlessly, effortlessly."

"The alien must have done it. To protect its . . . home. I shouldn't have upset her," John said in sorrow. "Are we helpless before this . . . this _trespasser_?"

xx

The next night, Maureen writhed in unconscious labor while John and Dr. Smith stood by her side, their eyes fastened to her sweat-streaked face. She'd been like this for twenty hours now—twenty hours of twisting, teeth-clenching agony. John reached down with trembling fingers to hold her damp hand. Her fingers clamped on his until the grip almost hurt. And, as he watched in numbed horror, he saw passing across his wife's face features—the slitted eyes, the thin drawn back lips, the white skin pulled rigidly over facial bones. Then her face suddenly relaxed and she shivered. Looking at John, Maureen said, "The light, John. The light that struck me that night when I went to find Will and Penny—"

John knew.

xx

Dr. Smith patted the Professor's shoulder, "Maureen's well, and in stable condition."

"And . . ." John started.

Removing his mask and gloves, Dr. Smith looked down, "You were right. The double heart was too much for this atmosphere."

THE END.


End file.
